I don’t often get to sketch out concepts in any more than a simple black line drawing, and I don’t even really share those that often either. I’m officially taking this Sunday off, which means I get to pursue “creative passion” or whatever, and work on things that I don’t necessarily have clients for. It’s everything from art installations concepts to words and phrases I think are funny. Sometimes it’s a social sculpture idea. Other times, it’s lyrics and snippets of commercials. Frenetic, I know, but they’re usually things that I just HAVE to get out of my head.

Anyway, today I was playing with a retail or branding concept. Takeaways, where technically everything is ‘stealable’. Theft is encouraged, as each piece is signed and numbered with gold inlay. Each piece has content, which is all relatively irrelevant.

For me, I ask the question on what this qualifies as. Is it a marketing concept, guerrilla in nature, but altruistic and non-destructive as well? Or is it sculpture, toying with and poking fun at the concept of consumerism and value. They’re worthless upon acquiring, but once procured, they retain individual and entirely separate experiences, scratches and scrapes. They acquire their own organic provenance.

Or maybe it’s just a pretty way to show things.

Project Scope:

The panels would be constructed out of multi-layers of ply, similar to apple ply, with a walnut or dark stained front and back. The edges would be exposed, unstained or altered.

An acceptable substitute is solid dark walnut.

Thinner boards of similarly treated wood are laser etched with text and emblems to make them seem similar to other classically bulk produced marketing material (ie. key chains, flyers, letters, magnets, stickers, etc.). They will feature information for a brand/company/person/thing/etc.. Maybe Emily Dickinson poems?

The back of each will have information, regarding number in series (which functions as a searchable reference number on a coinciding website maybe?) as well as the Handy Dandy Productions logo. This will either be gold foil or brass inlay.

Some boards will be hung from brass pegs, either on top of other boards or elsewhere.

The collection will sit on one level, be it shelf or table, in a manner of overlap that is mutable to circumstance. It will be unattended for one hour each day.

So…what do you think? (I hope you realize how terrifying and difficult a question that is)

Would you take one? Would you take more and sell them? Hoard them? Burn them?

Or do you leave it for someone else to steal?

Or do you vote for commercial use?

Welcome to my weird obsessive thought process.

Concept Sketch